Man suspected of violent sex assaults arrested

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

SAN DIEGO – The man accused of committing two brutal sexual attacks on women, one of which left a woman hospitalized with traumatic injuries, was arrested in Arizona, authorities confirmed Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for the San Diego County District Attorney's Office confirmed the arrest of 24-year-old Jeremiah Williams and said prosecutors were waiting for him to be extradited to San Diego.

Jeremiah Ira Williams (San Diego Police Department)

Officers with the Wanted Violent Offender Task Force received a tip that lead them to Williams, who was found in the 9800 block of West Crown King Drive in Tolleson, Arizona, on Thursday. He was arrested and booked into the Maricopa County Jail on multiple outstanding warrants, according to San Diego police.

“He’s facing numerous sex related charges as well as weapons charges. Exactly when he’s going to get here, I don’t know. We’re working with the District Attorney’s Office on that,” said San Diego sex crimes Lt. Paul Phillips.

Williams allegedly threatened the victims with a pistol, then beat and choked both of them during the crimes, according to police.

On August 13, a man followed a woman through her parking complex to her University City home before forcing her into her apartment and sexually assaulted her, police said.

The 28-year-old woman was walking toward her home in the Venetian Apartments at 3929 Nobel Drive Saturday around 10:30 p.m. when she noticed a man following her through the parking garage, SDPD Lt. Paul Phillips said. As she unlocked her apartment door, the armed man knocked her to the ground and demanded she give him money.

He proceeded to force woman into her apartment and choked her before sexually assaulting her, Phillips said. He ran away. The victim suffered facial fractures and remained in the hospital.

The man was brazen enough to stalk the victim through well-lit areas before attacking her, Phillips noted.

Police received a report three days later of a 23-year-old woman who reported being sexually assaulted in a room at the Motel 6 at 4370 Alvarado Canyon Road on August 14.

The suspect, who she recently met, entered her room, choked and sexually assaulted her before hitting her in the head with a handgun, police said. The suspect ran away after the victim yelled for help.

Police said they received a call about a man hitting a woman on August 14 at the motel. When they arrived they found the armed man - identified as Williams - in a canyon, but the woman - who was bleeding from the head - left the area in a car. Williams was cited on a misdemeanor gun charge and released.

Police collected evidence from the motel and later linked it to the 23-year-old woman's claim.

“Evidence was located at both crime scenes indicating Williams was our suspect. We did make an announcement to the public in a plea for help and based on that numerous tips came in from the public and we’re grateful," said Lt. Phillips. “We’re not aware of any other assaults, either in Arizona, or San Diego, but we’re certainly looking into that. We got a lot of tips on this, and a lot of hours were put in, and we’re so grateful… and based on that he’s in custody."